A friend of mine recently approached me to see if I knew anything about mystery shopping. She knows that I work at home (although she isn't quite sure what I do) and she knows that I write this blog.
While not technically a job that can be done totally from the home, mystery shoppers are typically independent contractors and are often also moms.
I thought that I could kill two birds with one stone (figure of speech) by sharing my research for my friend with you, the readers.
If you are not mystery shopping yourself, the first question that might come to mind is: What is mystery shopping? Wikipedia actually has a fairly good definition of mystery shopping. Basically, a mystery shopper is hired by a company or a company's competitor to pose as a shopper in order to gather various types of information (such as quality of service, placement of products, condition of company facility, and so on).
Many moms are attracted to mystery shopping because it offers the opportunity to set their own schedule. As an independent contractor, a mystery shopper can turn down assignments and also choose which organizations that they accept assignments from. Of course, to many, shopping and getting paid for it seems like a dream job.
Some of the drawbacks to mystery shopping that I discovered in my research include:
- Wear and tear on the car. Sometimes mileage is not paid for and a mystery shopper's car can take a lot of wear and tear as she travels from shop to shop.
- Long waits for reimbursement. While the mystery shopper often gets to keep what she bought for the shopping assignment, usually she must pay for the item out of her own pocket and wait to be reimbursed by the company.
- Low pay. Once the mystery shopper adds together to time spent traveling to and from her shopping assignment, the actual shopping time, and the time spent compiling a report she may find that she is working for less than minimum wage.
- Discovery. If a mystery shopper is discovered by the store that she is shopping in she may face an angry employee and, in some instances, may not get paid for the assignment from the shopping company.
With mystery shopping it really is "buyer beware," so be sure to check out the reputation of any mystery shopping companies thoroughly before agreeing to work for them.
If you would like additional information on mystery shopping, here are three great resources for you:
Are you a mystery shopper? Send me an email or leave me a comment and let me know what you think.
An experienced mystery shopper will pick up shops in the same area and do them on the same day, thus saving themselves some of the wear and tear on the car. They'll develop relationships with schedulers so that they become the "go to" person for their area because they will get the job done and because of this, frequently a scheduler will be able to set the dates of shops that are convenient to the shopper (not always - but often).
Also, while it can take time to get reimbursements - with many companies it doesn't take that long. I just received payment on August 10th for shops done in July (and I didn't start those shops till around July 25th).
Once I started getting paid for mystery shopping, I set aside some of my first paychecks as my "kitty" to pull money from and then I keep replacing the money as paychecks come in.
I like the fact that every week I'm receiving one or two paychecks for anywhere from $10 - $50 based upon what I've done for various companies. I've also been lucky enough that most of my work thus far pays around $10 minimum (although I do pick up the cheaper shops if I'm going to be in that area anyway and can do five or six shops in one day).
Something to remember about mystery shopping is that it isn't always about the money - it can be about what you get to 'add' to your life for free.
In the last 3 weeks, my husband and I have had two "dates" at our favorite restaurants which paid most of the meal. In the past I've had video rentals that wound up being free due to reimbursements. I do grocery shops where I might not make much - but at least some of my groceries are paid for (and I have to be in the store anyway).
My point? When you accept mystery shops for places you would go to anyway or buy/rent anyway - its a way to have a nicer "quality of life" without always spending YOUR money on it (since you will get reimbursed).
Posted by: Peg | August 11, 2007 9:53 AM | Permalink to Comment